It is common for sport-utility vehicles, ("SUVs"), to have removable tops. Conventionally, these tops are either rigid, i.e. "hardtop", or constructed of a canvas or similar material, i.e. "soft top". Conventionally hardtop vehicles have a one-piece top, in which removal of the top necessarily requires removal of the entire top. This results in an all or nothing situation for the driver that wishes some exposure to the elements of wind and sunlight. However, it is often preferable to be able to only remove a portion of the top as can be done with conventional sun-roofs or "T-top" configurations. In order to compensate for this, certain SUV manufacturers have designed SUV's with hybrid tops in which the roof panel over the driver is readily removable without the need to remove the separate rear roof portion from the vehicle.
In my previous patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,225, issued on May 24, 1994, I disclosed a sport truck top that allowed replacement of a factory installed soft top, in such a hybrid top vehicle, with a rigid shell top without the necessity of replacing the factory installed weather seals. That invention did not provide for a two-piece top in which the roof panel could be removed while maintaining the main top shell on the vehicle.
However, what is missing from the art is an improved rigid SUV two-piece top that can replace either a factory installed hardtop or a factory installed soft top and that has a rigid removable roof panel.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rigid two-piece top in which the roof panel alone or the entire top may be removed for a sport utility vehicle.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a top that can replace either a factory installed hard top or a factory installed soft top.
It is still another object to provide such a top that is structurally reinforced and that offers a high degree of prevention of leaking by providing a weather-tight junction between the two main components of the top.
Other objects and advantages over the prior art will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the detailed description together with the drawings as described as follows.